Painted Fall Table Runner

by Jennie @ Little Girl Designs

8 Materials

This fall table runner is simple to make since you start with a plain table runner. It would also make a great gift!

painted fall table runner, painted furniture

Using a leaf as your template, trace it onto the table runner. I spaced the leaf out evenly and ended up with eight leaf templates on the runner I used. Depending on the length of your table runner and the size of the leaf used, you might need more or less.

Place a paper plate below the table runner and pour red and orange paint onto a tray. I also recommend having a glass of water nearby to help the paint move across the fabric. I used acrylics for my table runner. Outline the leaf with paint first and then dab paint throughout the interior part of the leaf. I intermittently added water to my brush to allow the paint to spread, but was careful to not do this too near the edges since the paint had a tendency to creep past the template.

Here’s an overhead shot of several of the leaves. Fall leaves are all different, so don’t try to make them look uniform. You can also try different colors if you want to be adventurous. Remember to place a paper plate under each leaf as the paint will seep through slightly. Let the table runner dry completely.

Once the table runner is dry, use two strands of brown thread to stitch the stems of the leaves. Then use one strand of an orange-red thread to stitch the outline of the leaves. No fancy stitches needed here; I just used a back stitch. Rinse the embroidery pen trace off. You can do this by using a damp paper towel and dabbing the embroidery pen areas. It will come right off.

I was so excited to see how this would look on our oak table, I took a picture before finishing all of the stitching and embroidery-transfer-pen-removing. Now all I need are some real leaves and acorns for the middle of the table. :)